Kucherov relishes chance to face Ovechkin in East Final

Like many young Russian hockey players, Nikita Kucherov grew up following Alex Ovechkin’s career, hoping to someday become a prolific scorer and maybe even compete against his countryman in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The 24- year- old Tampa Bay Lightning winger has spent five seasons fulfilling the first portion of the dream.

The other part becomes a reality Friday night, when the Lightning open the Eastern Conference finals against Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals. “When he came in the league, he was the best player, and I mean he’s still the best player,” Kucherov said.

“Everybody would talk about him, and I definitely wanted to be in his spot one day, scoring goals,” the Lightning star added. “He’s a great example for young kids and someone to look up to.”

Ovechkin is also looking for his first trip to the Stanley Cup Final, a platform Kucherov has already performed on.

The Lightning, who also feature of couple of other young Russians playing key roles in goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and rookie defenceman Mikhail Sergachev, are in the conference final for the third time in four years.

In 2015, they defeated the New York Rangers before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Cup Final.

“It’s great competition to play against the best players and then against your countrymen,” Kucherov said.

“I think it’s great for Russia to see the young guys come into North America and go through the CHL, AHL and then make it to the NHL,” he added. “It’s great to see and to see how the kids want to be in the best league in the world. They don’t care about the money in the KHL, they want to be in the best league and play against the best. It’s nice to see.” The Lightning have been exceptional through the first two rounds of the playoffs, going 6- 1 at home while eliminating both the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins in five games. The Capitals beat Columbus in the opening round before ousting the two- time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. “They are similar to us in that they have a pretty deep lineup, a very lethal power play and forwards that can really change the momentum of the game with how good they are,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said.

“We are going to need to rely on our depth as well and stay disciplined. That’s something we’ve talked about going against Boston with how good their power play is and we saw first hand that if we are going to take penalties, teams are going to make us pay,” Stamkos added. “Washington is very similar in that regard. That will be one of the keys for us.”

Ovechkin expects the Atlantic Division winners to be a stern test, too.

“Right now, in this situation in this time of year, everybody has the best players, the best goalies, and you have to be the best to beat them,” the Capitals star said.